Court rules against Greenspace and Memphis on Confederate statues

This statue of Jefferson Davis is in Memphis. Photo by Ron Cogswell via Flickr.com; some rights reserved.

In a Davidson County Chancery Court ruling issued Monday, the court ruled in favor of the Sons of Confederate Veterans that Memphis Greenspace violated the previously set injunction (stay) against them and the City of Memphis in regard to the Memphis Confederate statues.

The defendants are again strictly prohibited from disturbing the Forrest statue pedestal, graves and granite plaza in Forrest Park (Health Sciences). They are also prohibited from moving, selling or disturbing the memorial statues of Forrest, Jefferson Davis and Capt. J. Harvey Mathes. They also cannot themselves or through other agents remove, sell, give or otherwise move the statues from their current secure warehouse location.

The chancellor also ruled that the four Confederate cannons (owned by the SCV and currently in the group’s possession) and the historical markers in Confederate Park (Memphis Park) are not covered by the original injunction because of insufficient wording in the original January injunction. These were a World War One monument, three Tennessee state markers and one Confederate Dames/United Daughters of the Confederacy marker, among others.

The ruling specifies that the defendants violated the court’s stay.

Mr. H. Edward Phillips, one of the senior attorneys for the SCV, said that further action and sanctions against Greenspace may follow.

Lee Millar, the spokesman for the SCV, said, “Though a small victory, this ruling none the less sends a giant message that the SCV continues the fight to bring the city and Greenspace to justice. We continue to maintain that what the city and Greenspace did in removing the memorial statues was illegal.”

The General Nathan Bedford Forrest Camp 215, Sons of Confederate Veterans, is a historical educational organization dedicated to the preservation of Southern heritage and history and the preservation of historic sites. See more information at nbforrestcamp215.org.